How to thicken liquid, namely water or milk.

January 28, 2013 5:06 PM

Looking for suggestions on how to thicken liquid, namely water or milk, for the purposes of photography.

Could somebody please suggest to me a thickening additive that would give liquids like water or milk the consistency of say, maple syrup. The only parameters here is that it cannot change the color of the original liquid, and it has to be safe for human skin - and non-harmful if small amounts touch the mouth or are accidentally ingested.

I googled and found something called "guar gum" and if anyone has any experience with that, please let me know. Any and all suggestions welcome.

posted by phaedon to Media & Arts (24 answers total)

Xanthan gum could work. It stays stable for quite a long time and is edible. You can get it at whole foods and its not expensive.
posted by PorcineWithMe at 5:12 PM on January 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Glycerin.
posted by anonymisc at 5:14 PM on January 28, 2013 [3 favorites]

What about just using condensed milk in place of milk?
posted by Conspire at 5:16 PM on January 28, 2013

Elmer's Glue is sometimes used in food styling for cereal because of the consistency and because it doesn't make the product soggy and unappealing. YMMV on how non-harmful you consider ingestion to be.
posted by stellaluna at 5:16 PM on January 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

Best answer: "Thick-it" - used by people who have trouble swallowing thin liquids without aspirating, such as stroke survivors. Should be exactly what you need.
posted by citygirl at 5:20 PM on January 28, 2013 [5 favorites]

Thickening gums will tend to make the liquid more cohesive as well as more viscous, and the resulting flow behaviour might not suit your visual purpose. If you want water or milk to flow exactly like syrup, the easiest thing is just to make it into syrup by adding lots and lots and lots of sugar (a cup of sugar per cup of liquid should get you to roughly maple syrup viscosity).
posted by flabdablet at 5:28 PM on January 28, 2013

I was going to suggest thick-it too. Doesn't change the color in my experience...
posted by missriss89 at 5:28 PM on January 28, 2013

Best answer: Maybe cornstarch?
posted by ibakecake at 5:30 PM on January 28, 2013

Best answer: When I was doing stage makeup, we just used glycerin instead of water.
posted by showbiz_liz at 5:33 PM on January 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

If you have a juicer on hand -- potato juice. I think it would cloud water, though, as would a number of other suggestions here -- try agar or gelatin for 'thick water'
posted by kmennie at 5:33 PM on January 28, 2013

Best answer: You want methylcellulose, which will thicken anything as much or as little as you want, from slightly slurpy to full-on-ectoplasm, and is perfectly clear. Totally non-toxic and quite cheap. Check art supply stores.

(This is the stuff the Japanese porn guys use in the "lotion" videos.)
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:57 PM on January 28, 2013

I came in to suggest agar agar, but flabdablet's suggestion of actually just making a syrup is probably perfect (and delicious) if your aim is to mimic normal flow at a more manageable speed. Cornstarch and agar agar thickened mixtures can crack like jelly, and methylcellulose seems to hold on to small bubbles in a way which makes the liquid cloudy.
posted by lucidium at 6:08 PM on January 28, 2013

I would use different things for different things. I'd probably use cornstarch for milk. But you couldn't use it for water. But you could use plain unflavored gelatin for water and get close. Maybe a mixture of simple syrup and gelatin would come out right. Or use glycerin or baby oil instead of water, which should look right on camera.

Or, use more light and a faster shutter speed.
posted by gjc at 6:48 PM on January 28, 2013

Response by poster: Glycerin.

Yeah I've heard macro photographers use glycerin. Well apparently I can buy it in small quantities from the local pharmacy. If it works, I'll try to find it in bulk. I will also look into methylcellulose, corn starch, and "Thick It." (Looking up methylcellulose - I should have mention in my OP that I'm not looking for something that will dry fast.) Thank you so much for the replies thus far!
posted by phaedon at 6:54 PM on January 28, 2013

Best answer: Vegetable glycerin is also available in woo-woo stores as a hand moisturiser.
posted by seanmpuckett at 6:57 PM on January 28, 2013

Corn syrup (Karo) comes in a clear flavor and would make a good stand in for thick water. You can adjust the consistency by making it a little warmer or cooler. It's also delicious.
posted by anaelith at 7:05 PM on January 28, 2013

Response by poster: I also wanted to add I found methyl cellulose in the "bookbinding" section of the art store, in powder form, next to rice starch and wheat starch. A little freaked out that it can't be good for skin, and that perhaps its intended purpose is to be an adhesive.
posted by phaedon at 7:18 PM on January 28, 2013

I've heard that the milk in cereal box photographs is Elmer's glue.
posted by pullayup at 7:53 PM on January 28, 2013

Best answer: I did a photoshoot in which the photographer wanted thick liquid dripping off my face, and we used corn syrup. It didn't look like water -exactly- (it was obviously thicker than that, and had some small bubbles in it), but you could try thinning it with some water or by heating it slightly. It was on my hair, face --including in my mouth, some and even in my eye a bit which surprisingly didn't sting-- and hands, and while it was pretty sticky, it obviously did not taste bad and was easily removed by a warm shower. We shot on top of a rubber mat/tarp-y sort of thing for easier cleaning.
posted by jorlyfish at 8:04 PM on January 28, 2013

Yeah, as a couple of people have suggested with the Elmer's glue, you're probably better off trying to simulate water or milk using thicker materials, rather than trying to make water or milk actually thicker. Elmer's is safe on skin, I think. We certainly used to get it all over ourselves in elementary school. As for water... Maybe some sort of skin gel? I'd say go to a CVS and smear some skin stuff on the back of your hand, see what's clearest.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 8:27 PM on January 28, 2013

Elmer's glue also comes in a clear variety. I imagine it could be diluted with alcohol or water even. Some hand sanitzers might be another idea, they could be diluted to desired thickness with water.
posted by glip at 8:51 PM on January 28, 2013

A friend who does product photo shoots for a living uses Elmer's glue instead of milk, and glycerine for water (specifically, to replicate condensation droplets).
posted by clearlydemon at 10:25 PM on January 28, 2013

A small amount of agar will thicken things. But you need to go easy as otherwise it will gel whatever you put it in.
posted by MuffinMan at 12:32 AM on January 29, 2013

I think corn syrup and glycerine are both classic options for this sort of thing.

I will also take this moment to complain that while corn-syrup + red food coloring is the classic formulation for fake blood in movies, its does a terrible job of it. Blood is cloudy. They should add some corn starch or something to make it opaque and slightly less glossy.
posted by Good Brain at 7:41 PM on January 29, 2013